The Bandit Princess by J. Roberts Read Free Book Online Page B

told us about Hunter, and Randy Green. But he lied about the two men in town. He recognized my description of them.”
    “That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re Pearl Starr’s men, does it?” she asked.
    “Why would he lie otherwise?” Clint asked.
    “So what do we do?”
    “We find them,” Clint said.
    “Where?”
    “The whorehouse is as good a place to start as any,” he said.
    “The whorehouse?”
    “Sure,” he said, “haven’t you ever been in a whorehouse?”
    She didn’t answer.
    He hadn’t expected her to.

    As Clint and Deputy Eads left his office, Sheriff O’Neal stood up, strapped on his gun, then sat back down again. He wasn’t sure what to do. He had a vague idea where Pearl Starr and her men might be camped, but not a good enough one to ride directly to them with the news. It could take him days to find them.
    On the other hand, did he want to give the Gunsmith a reason to take personal affront with him? Give the man an ax to grind with him?
    The two men Clint Adams had described sounded to him like Del and Tate, two of Pearl’s men. Maybe he should just find them, give them the word, and get them out of town. But he’d have to do that without Adams finding out—without him ever finding out.
    He stood up, sat down, stood up, sat down again. He was undecided about what to do, but in the end it was self-preservation that took hold.
    Adams probably knew he was lying about Del and Tate. That meant the gunman was looking for them right now.
    Sheriff O’Neal decided to stay right where he was, in his office . . . where it was safe.

EIGHTEEN
     
     
     
    As they approached the whorehouse, Clint could feel Alice Eads pulling back.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked.
    “I-It’s like you said,” she answered. “I’ve never been inside a whorehouse before.”
    “They’re just women, like you,” he said. “You can’t catch anything from them.”
    “I know I can’t catch anything,” she said peevishly, “but they’re not women like me. I’m nothing like they are!”
    Clint wondered why she was protesting so vehemently. “Okay, Alice,” he said, “they’re nothing like you. Do you want to stay out here and wait?”
    She considered it, but in the end she decided to go in with him.
    “No, that’s okay,” she said. “I’ll come in. You might need me. There’s two of them.”
    “You’re right,” he said. “I might need you. Thanks. Let’s go.” He decided to keep a close eye on her once they were inside.
     
    Once Clint was able to convince the madam he was not there to sample her wares, she answered his questions.
    “Yes, we did have two men who fit those descriptions,” she said.
    “Had? They’re not here now?” he asked.
    “No, they left a little while ago.”
    “Did they say where they were going?”
    “I heard them saying something about whiskey.”
    “So to a saloon, then.”
    “I guess so.” The madam looked at Alice, who glared back at the woman with obvious distaste. “Doesn’t the deputy talk?”
    “When she has something to say,” Clint said. “Can we talk to the two girls they were with?”
    “Is this official?” she asked.
    “Yes,” Eads said, “it is.”
    “Then we’ll cooperate. I’ll bring the girls here.”
    They waited in the entry foyer while she went to fetch them.
    “Are you okay to talk to one of the girls while I talk to the other?” he asked Alice. “It’ll save us time.”
    “Yes.”
    “Just find out what she knows about the man she was with,” Clint said. “Anything he might have said.”
    “All right.”
    The madam returned with two girls, a small, slender blonde and a taller, more full-bodied brunette. Clint let Alice take the blonde, as she would have had to look up at the brunette, and he didn’t want to give her any more reason to be uncomfortable.
    Clint moved into an alcove with the big brunette, and Eads went into another room with the blonde.
    “He didn’t talk much, mister,” the brunette said, “except